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                  <p class="p_Heading1"><span class="f_Heading1">Process Modeling Notation</span></p>



  
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                <p class="p_BodyText"><span class="f_BodyText">A business process model typically defines the following elements:</span></p>
<ul style="text-indent: 0px; margin-left: 30px; list-style-position: outside;">
<li><span class="f_Bulletlist1">The goal or reason for the process</span></li>
<li><span class="f_Bulletlist1">Specific inputs</span></li>
<li><span class="f_Bulletlist1">Specific outputs</span></li>
<li><span class="f_Bulletlist1">Resources consumed</span></li>
<li><span class="f_Bulletlist1">Activities that are performed in some order, and</span></li>
<li><span class="f_Bulletlist1">Events that drive the process.</span></li>
</ul>
<p class="p_BodyText"><span class="f_BodyText">The business process:</span></p>
<ul style="text-indent: 0px; margin-left: 30px; list-style-position: outside;">
<li><span class="f_Bulletlist1">Can affect more than one organizational unit</span></li>
<li><span class="f_Bulletlist1">Can have a horizontal organizational impact</span></li>
<li><span class="f_Bulletlist1">Creates value of some kind for the customer; customers can be internal or external.</span></li>
</ul>
<p class="p_BodyText"><span class="f_BodyText">A business process is a collection of activities designed to produce a specific output for a particular customer or market. It implies a strong emphasis on how the work is done within an organization, in contrast to a product's focus on what. A process is thus a specific ordering of work activities across time and place, with a beginning, an end, and clearly defined inputs and outputs: a structure for action. The notation used to depict a business process is illustrated below.</span></p>
<p class="p_TextIndentedL2"><img src="businessprocess.png" width="323" height="94" border="0" alt="BusinessProcess"></p>
<p class="p_BodyText"><span class="f_BodyText">The <a href="process.htm">process notation</a> implies a flow of activities from left to right. Typically an <a href="events.htm">Event</a> element is placed to the left of the process and the output to the right. To specifically notate the internal activities, UML <a href="activity.htm">Activity elements</a> can be placed inside the process element.</span></p>
<p class="p_SubHeadingL1"><span class="f_SubHeadingL1">The BPMN Profile </span></p>
<p class="p_BodyText"><span class="f_BodyText">One popular notation and approach to business modeling is the Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN). This notation is specifically targeted at the business modeling community and has a relatively direct mapping to UML through a BPMN Profile. Sparx Systems provides a built-in UML <a href="bpmn_1_4.htm">profile for BPMN</a> modeling in Enterprise Architect.</span></p>




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